


Espresso Shot

by dangocorn



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:54:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21520594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dangocorn/pseuds/dangocorn
Summary: Law finds himself visiting the campus cafe a little too often after encountering the new barista.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Shachi & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 50
Kudos: 219





	1. Chapter 1

The smell of hazelnut coffee, a once comforting scent, now made Law sick to his stomach.

It was nearly seven in the morning, and his exhausted feet had made their way begrudgingly into the campus’ cafe for his daily dose of caffeine. His eyes never left the barista's hand as it danced in lazy circles, filling the filter with the steaming water and further intensifying the smell tickling his nostrils. He realized how intense his gaze was, though there was no reason behind it, other than the excuse of being lost in something, anything, that wasn’t the dull emptiness he felt for the past three weeks. He was so engrossed in the blissful thought of skipping class, that he didn’t notice the coffee spilling at the sides of the filter until he heard a loud, irritated, “Crap!”

His thoughts clicked back to the present moment, and his eyes flickered up to the barista’s face. A slim, black haired boy with a distinct scar beneath his left eye stood there in shock of himself. He looked pitiful.

Law watched the rest of the ordeal unfold in front of him, interested.

“You moron, I showed you the proper way to do it at least ten times!” a blonde-haired man with a ridiculously shaped eyebrow slammed his hand against the barista’s head.

“Lay off, I’m trying my best!” the barista shouted back. Law cocked his brow in amusement, surprised by the bold response to whom he could only assume was the boss. The line of customers behind him started to become antsy. 

“Sorry sir, I’ll be right with you, it’s my first day so please bare with me!” the barista looked at Law, his hand nestled on the back of his head as he bowed several times in apology. Law snuck a peak at his watch, only to see his first lecture of the day would be starting in less than ten minutes. He clicked his tongue in mild discontent, shouldered his bag and turned to leave. He didn’t have time for this.

On his way out, he could hear the boy shouting, “Please come again!”

Law let out a bemused breath of air. Idiot.

_________________________

“What took you so long? You’re usually here before anyone else is,” Shachi, perhaps the person who has gotten closest to cracking into Law’s core, exclaimed as the scruffy haired man slid into an open seat a minute before the bell rang.

“There’s some new guy working at the cafe,” Law murmured, slipping a pen out of his shirt pocket and letting out a tired sigh, irritated that he had to explain himself, “he was getting trained, and it was taking forever.”

Shachi let out a hum, eyeing Law’s desk. “No coffee?”

“Not worth an absence.”

Laughing, his friend kicked his legs back and placed a small punch to Law’s arm. “Even though this is a dumb gen-ed history class, eh?”

Even though it was a dumb gen-ed history class. 

This was Law’s fourth and last year at this university, and he couldn’t be more relieved. His plan was to go as far away from this place as possible for his medical school endeavor. As much as he appreciated the few friends he had, there were stronger reasons that compelled him to never want to return to this place again. Reasons that made him itch to sleep in and miss this hellhole of a class he had every Monday and Thursday morning.

As if to mock his train of thought, the said reason walked in five minutes late to the lecture.

Law’s jaw twitched, his fingers curling tightly around his pen. The spark of anger he had entertained the thought of not existing anymore began to build up in his chest once more. His eyes scanned over the muscular figure of the redheaded man standing at the door, his dark lips moving idly as he made up some comedic excuse to the professor. His hair looked like it had been tousled lazily in hopes of looking presentable. His staple look. The look that initially served as a bonus to his already ragged appearance. The look that once made Law’s eyes glaze over with desire.

A quiet scoff made its way out Law’s lips.

Shachi noticed.

“Hey, you good?” he whispered, concern etched in his voice.

Law’s eyes closed for a moment before they focused back on the textbook in front of him. Good was the last word on his mind, making him regard Shachi with a sarcastic, “Exquisite.”

His face remained stoic as the broad man made his way up the row before pausing for a brief moment to regard Law with a crooked smirk. “Hey, sexy.”

Though his body language didn’t show it, Law’s stomach churned with a horrid mixture of sickness and left-over pull towards the man he can now scarcely regard with a simple look. 

“Piss off, Kidd,” Shachi warned, his voice only loud enough to be heard by the redhead. Whether it was a distraction or simply a way of coping with the simmering feeling he was now having in the pit of his throat, Law merely sat there, tacitly twirling a pen in his hand, his face never wavering. He hardly wanted to give him the pleasure of a glance.

“Heh,” Kidd breathed out, starting to walk away once more, but not before leaving Law with a final remark. “Cold as ever, Trafalgar.”

The rest of the class carried on with the dull buzz of pencils scratching over blank pages, worn out sighs and the muffled sound of the professor’s voice. The murky darkness lingering at the tip of his mind prevented him from indulging in his usual habit of glancing at his watch every few minutes, in tense anticipation of the end of class. It felt like days before the ever familiar sound of the bell rung deep into his ears, after which he grabbed his textbook, flung his bag across his shoulder and didn’t bother waiting for his friend before quietly making his way out of the classroom. 

He needed his goddamn fucking coffee.

______________________________

As Law made his way back to the cafe, he couldn’t help holding the small hope that there was an adequate worker behind the counter this time around. Unfortunately, that was not the case. He braced himself.

“Sir, you’re back!” the cheery sound of the young barista came crashing through Law’s frayed nerves. He took a small breath in before coming up to the counter and voicing his order for the second time that day.

“One large coffee.”

The barista’s fingers flew across the touch-screen, then he looked up. “Any cream?”

“No.”

“Sugar?” 

“No.”

“Your name, sir?”

“Law.”

“For here or to go?”

“To go.”

He continued to slam his fingers against the screen. His face frowned in worry before relaxing, a twinkle flaring up in his eyes, as though he just hit a big success. Law waited. “That will be $2.96 please!”

He slipped his wallet out and handed the boy the exact change.

“Thank you, I’ll be right with you!” he chimed, moving over to start preparing his coffee. Law leaned gently against the counter, releasing a sigh he didn’t realize he had been holding in. His hand went up to his shirt to air his chest out; the heat had been absolutely relentless that day. As the scent of the coffee began to waft in the air, his eyes went up to the barista once more, who was, surprisingly, not struggling as terribly as he had been earlier that morning. He seemed to be on his own, the blonde not at all in sight. Law’s gaze shifted up to the boy’s name tag. Luffy. His eyes continued moving upwards, until they settled on his face. Hopeful eyes, genuine smile. Enthusiastic body language.

He must have been a Freshman.

“Okay…” the boy’s soft voice cut through Law’s observation. He watched him pour the coffee into a to-go cup, top it off with a snug lid, and scribble something quickly on the side of it. It was difficult to see from Law’s angle, but it didn’t matter, since the boy soon handed the cup over to him.

“Thanks for giving me another chance,” he grinned, his eyes squinting along with the curls of his lips. He looked flushed, as though he had been a tad nervous with Law watching his every move from start to finish. 

Law held the cup in his hand, the warmth of it oddly comforting, despite the heated day. He flashed the boy a gentle nod in appreciation before turning to leave. As he stepped out of the small cafe, he put the cup up to his mouth and took a sip. The bitter liquid trickled down his throat and for a split moment, the heat and intensity of the flavor felt like it could cure every ailment he ever suffered from. It was, though, for only a brief moment before everything sunk back into his chest. The same heaviness he has lived with for as long as he can remember nestled itself uncomfortably in the center of his being.

He almost lost himself again, but the writing on the cup caught his attention.

Along the rim of it on one side, with small, scribbly letters read “You’re my first successful customer!” with a lop-sided looking smiley face. 

Almost exactly mirroring the subtle smile now unknowingly gracing Law’s lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for stopping by :) I do hope you enjoy your time here. It's only going up (or down? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯) hill from here. Hopefully the rest of the chapters will be a little longer than this one, but for the first, it felt right to start off nice and short. Let me know your thoughts!
> 
> -S


	2. Chapter 2

{One Month Ago}

Law had been vigorously tackling a lab that was due that very evening when Kidd came up from behind him, his scarred hands settling on the desk on each side of Law’s torso, thus successfully imprisoning him. The veins on his arms twitched as he didn’t receive a single reaction from the focused doctor to-be, compelling him to take a step closer so that his chest pressed against Law’s back. 

With a small sigh, Law ceased his writing and turned his face to address his eager partner. “I’m busy, Eustass. Keep your hands to yourself until I’m finished.”

An amused groan escaped Kidd’s mouth. “We’ve been going out for over four months now and you still call me Eustass.”

Law, now tapping speedily across a calculator, takes a moment to finally respond with an impatient, “And?”

“And,” Kidd murmured, his lips hovering lazily over Law’s left ear, “It’s really fucking hot.”

“Then stop complaining and give me room to breathe,” Law reasoned, now taking matters into his own hands. He had practically finished the lab by then, but didn’t see any harm in indulging a little more in the task of frustrating the man pressed up against him. It was amusing, to say the least, and he had the time for it. His hands proceeded to jot down a flurry of notes that, to his advantage, Kidd would never figure out were utter gibberish. It did, however, serve as a fantastic way to further irritate him.

“Oy, I’m getting fucking old back here,” he growled, a sound that borderline touched into the territory of whining, which only further amused Law.

“And what am I to do if I fail this assignment because of you, Eustass?” he idly responded, still feigning his disinterest.

Kidd scoffed, “Like that could ever happen. You’re a practical genius, you don’t need to spend a whole goddamn evening to ensure your A. We both know that.”

Law hummed, only slightly surprised that his partner was catching onto his game. A flash of realization hit him as he noted the calm in his mind. Perhaps not a perfect calm, but a calm nonetheless. Whether it was because of the person now gliding a hand up his tattooed arms or otherwise, he wasn’t quite sure. But it was something he felt the need to cling onto. Anything that somewhat relieved the constant pain he seemed to suffer from was worth a shot.

________________

{Present}

Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee-

Law’s hand shot up and slammed against the alarm clock, and he got up.

His day started off normally, although unlike most people, he rarely took a moment in bed to collect himself before beginning his morning routine. As soon as his mind was awake and thinking, he did everything in his power to distract himself. Even if it was with nothing but the smallest, most mundane everyday life tasks.

Slipping his feet into his pair of house slippers, -- with the words “Trust me,” sewed neatly on the left one, and “I’m (almost) a doctor” on the right -- he proceeded to disappear into his bathroom, where he slipped his electric toothbrush off of its stand and took exactly two whole minutes to brush his teeth, after which he thoroughly flossed them. Lastly, he washed his face, moisturized and put his contacts in. For breakfast, he made himself an omelette with chives, a few pieces of spinach, and only a pinch of salt. Then he poured a tall glass of room temperature water for himself. And he ate. While scanning through the news on his phone, that is, because he couldn’t allow his mind a moment of silence if he could help it.

Once he was finished, he washed his dishes, set them to dry and proceeded to change into his outfit of the day, which usually consisted of whatever seemed practical for the weather. If it was warm out, he would wear his light jeans, and a plain T-shirt (usually grey, black or if he was feeling particularly fancy that day, navy blue). If it was slightly chilly, he would add a jacket to that. And if it was cold, he would wear a coat, a heavier pair of jeans, and perhaps a scarf to protect his neck. Today, however, was warm.

And thus, he carefully slipped on his shoes, flipped the light switch off and left his apartment.

Off to the library.

________________

As he walked, his phone rang.

“Yeah?” he merely answered, already aware of the person on the other end.

“Morning to you too, crank,” the familiar sound of Shachi came through. Law’s tense walking soothed at hearing his friend’s voice, whether he liked to admit it or not. 

“Good morning, Shachi,” he calmly responded, his fingers around the phone relaxing.

“I’m at the cafe, thought I could bring you a coffee at the library.”

Law’s mind almost instantly shot out with “No”, although he quickly realized how defensive that would have sounded. He was already on his way to the cafe, and though he would have agreed on any other day to save him the rest of the trip across campus, he didn’t want to take Shachi’s offer that particular morning. He allowed himself only a second to contemplate the reason behind that before answering more collectively with, “That’s quite alright. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Alright,” his friend concluded their call rather quickly, relieving Law of having to voice any explanations.  
As he approached the door of the cafe, his hand instinctively went to fluff his head of perfectly messed locks before landing on the doorknob and twisting it. His eyes easily found Shachi, his crazy orange hair standing out like nothing he’d ever quite encountered before. Law offered a small wave in hello when his friend caught his eyes only a moment later.

“Hey!” he said, ushering Law to the vacant spot next to him at a corner table. Law held his index finger out, silently asking his friend to wait on him. 

He approached the counter and almost voiced his daily order before realizing that it wasn’t a head of black and a smile that greeted him, but rather a striking blonde one with an indifferent expression. Quite like his own, in fact. And the one he was initially more used to seeing. A rather unprecedented pang of irritation struck him.

“Hi, how can I help you?” the man robotically asked, his swirly eyebrow twitching consistently with the rest of his body. Law studied him briefly. Shaking body, a finger rapidly tapping at the counter, a generally anxious vibe. He must have been a smoker who had gone a tad too long without a cigarette. Law cocked an eyebrow, slightly amused at the self-control the man was showing despite the bodily signs that begged for otherwise. He finally relieved the uptight guy by saying his order, thereby giving him an excuse to hold on a bit longer.

“Here you are,” he finally said, handing him his order and change before tending to the next customer. 

Law made his way back to Shachi who was now looking anxious himself, his foot shaking violently against the table. It seemed as though it was a day where everyone he encountered was on tenterhooks. Putting his coffee down on the table to stop his friend from practically breaking the thing, Law then slid into the empty seat and looked up at him questioningly.

Shachi smiled, a weird, halfhearted smile, before taking an unnecessarily large gulp of his overly-creamed (in Law’s opinion, that is) cup of coffee. “I’ve got a really important presentation in an hour, and I don’t think I can do it. You know how I am, I suck at talking in front of people, and honestly, I’m probably going to just skip it, I don’t really need this grade anyway, I can probably do without it, don’t you think? I mean, it’s not like I’ve been dreading this day for the entire semester and preparing endlessly or anything, but it’d probably not be a big deal if I just, like, didn’t do it, right? What do you-”

“Shachi,” Law cut him off, afraid that anymore of his friend’s uneasy rambling might eventually rub off on him, which is something Law’s state of mind simply couldn’t handle at that point. He looked in his friends' eyes, an act he found himself being slightly discomforted by, but pressed on for Shachi’s sake nonetheless. “You are not skipping this presentation. This is about showing people what you love to do. It’s about perseverance. You can’t possibly become a counselor if you fuck this one up.”

Shachi paused, as if he had been buying Law’s words up until the last sentence. His eyes crinkled and his vociferous laugh blurted out his lips, his sense of uneasiness dialed down, “It’s like you can’t keep your mouth shut without being brutally honest, man.”

Law’s shoulders eased a tad. He wasn’t the best at comforting words, although he often gave his best shot when it came to Shachi. And that was truly the best he could do, even after almost a decade of trying at it. In any case, it worked, somewhat. That had to count for something. He sat back in his chair and allowed the comforting scent of plain coffee to take over his senses for a moment; perhaps it would help ease the gnawing frustration he was feeling in the pit of his stomach. His morning wasn’t going the way he had planned. Any time something didn’t go the way his mind had initially set in place, a sense of indignation settled over him. This was an aspect of himself he often tried to change, though it never quite panned out for him.

By the time he finished his coffee, Shachi was on his seventh mock-run of his presentation, after which Law gently took hold of the tablet he was scrolling through maniacally and shoved it aside. Shachi looked up at him in defeat.

“You’ll be fine. I promise.”

_________________

The two walked out of the cafe at a quarter to one, which gave Shachi just enough time to stroll comfortably to his lecture, and Law to the library. As they walked, he noted this rather uncomfortable silence hanging in the air. Something he rarely felt around Shachi, which only made it more discerning. He waited patiently.

“Err, Law?” his friend finally said, his strained tone of voice confirming Law’s initial feeling. Instead of replying, he waited for Shachi to continue, which may have been a bad idea, as his response seemed to take longer than what he would have liked.

Eventually, though, Shachi spoke. “How’ve you been doing, with...you know. The whole Kidd thing.”

Ah. There it was. 

Law had been anticipating this at the very back burner of his mind, although he had hoped it would never come up in conversation. A part of him had known that Shachi would give him the space he needed about the entire ordeal, but another part of him also knew that he was just too caring of a friend to be able to hold back for too long. He allowed a small, dread-filled breath of air to escape his lungs before replying.

“I’m doing fine,” he offered, his tone of voice as placid and unreadable as ever. He wasn’t stupid -- he realized this response would only further worry his friend, although he really had nothing else to say about it. He didn’t feel happy, nor did he feel sad. And thus, he was fine.

As predicted, a flash of concern swept across Shachi’s face.

Law’s eyes didn’t dwell very long on the look, however, because a rather blindingly red shirt screamed for attention only ten feet away from where they stood. His gaze moved to the person wearing it, and he soon realized it was the new barista --Luffy--, the scar beneath his left eye as distinct as ever. His hair was messier than usual, although not in an intentional way, but rather, in a “I missed my alarm this morning” sort of manner. Paired with his ridiculously bright shirt were some jean shorts, and a flimsy pair of black flip flops. He was walking next to a tall, green-haired hunk of a man, his hands moving animatedly as he spoke. The contrast between them was quite comical. Frankly, he looked more like a twelve year old than a first year in college. This made the smallest of smiles flare onto Law’s lips.

They passed each other without a word, and yet that nagging feeling he had been having had simply withered away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you loads for your sweet commentary, everyone. I'd love to reply -- I'm currently unable to access WiFi continuously, and so I have been using my data to post the chapters. I'll get to replying once I have adequate connection. For now, please know that I truly appreciate it! 
> 
> Also, sorry for the mega slow burn, oops.
> 
> -S


	3. Chapter 3

Life felt good.

Law’s eyes brightened with a smile, his ten year old hands going up to catch a baseball thrown his direction. The hot afternoon sun was piercing through his youthful eyes, but he could still see him standing there across from him, twenty feet away. His guardian. His angel.

“Whoaaa, Law. You caught it, finally!” Corazon laughed with delight, his fists shooting up in excitement for Law’s success. He did a loopy wiggle with his hips, making Law roll his eyes, unwilling to show Corazon the extent of happiness he was actually feeling.

“It was whatever,” he brushed it off, but Corazon knew better. He always did.

Taking his baseball glove off and shoving it underneath his arm, Law started running towards the ecstatic blonde, ready to go home and have lunch. He was hungry. He sprinted, the breeze against his prespirated skin feeling really good. He ran and ran. And kept running. And running.

“Corazon!” he called out, confused. Why wasn’t he getting any closer?

“Hurry up!” his guardian waved, his voice distorted, small.

Law felt a pit in his stomach. Something was wrong. He shut his eyes tightly and picked up his speed, dropping the glove and ball. He needed to be faster. He needed to catch up. 

By the time he opened his eyes, Corazon was gone. 

Dread hit him in his chest like a bullet. It hurt so much. Where was he? His eyes dropped down to his shirt. Blood was soaking through the fabric, and he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. When he looked up again, there was nothing. He was nothing.

......

Law woke with a sharp gasp, his hand quickly travelling to his throat.

His lungs burned, and his head struggled to grasp at reality. He reached blindly to turn on his side lamp, to see, to feel anything real. His mind raced from one memory to the next, everything was blurring together in the most disorienting way. Nothing in his head was making any sense. He could hear his heartbeats hammering against his chest, so much so he smacked his hand against it in an attempt to stop its intense throbbing. 

“Fucking stop,” he hissed under his breath, the nails digging into his chest practically breaking through the skin. Suddenly, he felt cold, his body breaking out into rivers of sweat. He closed his eyes and started to draw in some breaths. They were shaky, but they started to bring down his heightened state.

The clock on the wall ticked idly by, as normally as ever, as if nothing was wrong and life carried on and didn’t care to stop. Like it never had any intention of giving him a god damn break. Once he managed to breathe at a somewhat regular pace, Law rummaged in his side table drawer for a stray bottle of water and chugged, not sparing a single drop of the clear liquid. Then he collapsed the ninety cent bottle in his shaking hands, swung his legs around and got up.

He absolutely loathed weekends.

_______________________

With the start of the new semester, Law’s uneasiness and melancholia made a quick return. Nothing hit as hard and sweet as a three hour long workout to release the wretched knot of anxiety he had developed in his chest. His overgrown hair was tied up in a halfhearted knot on the top of his head, and his legs were ready to start a four mile run. Once stretching and filling up his water bottle, he made his way to the treadmill.

Slipping his earbuds in, he picked up his speed, turning a light jog into a steadfast run. It felt good, his eyes fixed on the pale gray wall in front of him, his chest starting to burn with every breath he took. His mind was empty, his heart was pounding, his ears hurt from the intensity and magnitude of sound blowing up in his ears, but he loved every second of it. 

His eyes eventually left the wall and fell to the treadmill screen, and he quickly realized he had long passed his running goal by two miles. It wasn’t until that moment did he realize the amount of sweat drenching him, and the excruciating pain throbbing in his legs. His mind snapped out of its trance and he dialed down the speed so that he was fast walking. He took a few minutes to wind down and catch his breath again.

As his mind started falling back into its natural rhythm of endless racing, his eyes shifted to the person who had just finished running next to him. The man’s build reminded him of Kidd’s; bulky, scarred and beastly. The only stark difference was the blazing green hair spiking up his head, as well as the distinct gash across his left eye. 

Law eyed the man as he stepped off of the treadmill and proceeded to approach a raven headed woman doing some arm weights. After putting down the weights, she greeted him with a playful smile, to which the man retaliated by pulling her by her waist and starting a make-out session in the center of the campus gym. By that point, Law had already retreated from the treadmill and was chugging down his bottle of water. His eyebrows raised in amusement when he noted the man shamelessly incorporating tongue in the mixture, clearly impartial to the people around them. 

He didn’t know whether to feel impressed or disgusted. A mixture of both, maybe.

Taking his eyes off of the two, Law finally grabbed his towel, rubbed it against his saturated neck and started making his way out of the facility. As he slipped his coat back on, his eyes fastened on the now ever familiar bright faced barista making his way in. Law’s knitted eyebrows relaxed as the boy caught his gaze. A gentle smile sprouted at the corners of his impish lips.

“Hey!” he greeted happily, shoving his hands into his denim shorts pockets and making his way towards Law, “You didn’t show up to the cafe the last couple of days.”

Law cocked an eyebrow skeptically, now absorbed by the fact that the boy had taken notice. Weekends never exactly motivated him to be out and about, which meant often times he resorted to making his own coffee. Now, however, he might have a prompter.

Law wasn’t dense to his own feelings. He realized the attraction he felt growing towards the wide-eyed barista; that in and of itself was nothing to be denied, however, the issue at hand was whether or not he wanted to pursue it. He was selfish about a lot of things, that he knew and accepted, but to get into something with someone as pure and clean-hearted as this boy while in a state of rather inescapable misery might have been a tad too thoughtless. Doing it with Kidd never felt wrong because of the similar wavelengths they were on.

Then again, that was arguably one of the worst possible decisions he could have made.

“It’s been a busy weekend,” he finally reasoned, a lie, but one that wouldn’t make a difference.

“Oh, okay,” the boy replied, his smile still present and his eyes doused in a sense of understanding. Law fixed his eyes on his, unable to retreat quite yet. It lasted longer than deemed normal, and he noted the barista’s face starting to flush.

“You’re Law, right?” he asked, his eyes unwavering.

“That’s right.”

“I’m Luffy,” he replied, extending his hand, his lips still curled into a small smile. Law’s hand gravitated towards it without thought, and as he clasped his hand in the boy’s, he took in the difference in size, the smallness of his fingers, the gentle firmness of his hold. He continued, “My friends are having a gathering tonight. You should come, maybe, take a break from your busy weekend. You can bring a friend if you’d like. It’ll be fun!”

Before he had the chance to consider his invitation, the sizable man and black haired woman from only moments before appeared at Luffy’s side.

“You’re really damn late,” the man retorted, his arm draped lazily across the woman’s shoulders. “We’re already done.”

Luffy winced, his hand moving up to his neck in embarrassment, “Usopp and I were messing around and I lost track of time. Sorry!”

The woman chuckled softly before shifting her eyes to Law. She had striking blue eyes, he noted, but they were nothing of interest to him. “Who’s your friend?”

Smiling widely once more, Luffy introduced him. “This is Law. I served him the first ever successful coffee I made at the cafe. Law, this is Zoro and Robin. They’re the ones hosting the party tonight.”

“Lovely to meet you, Law,” Robin flashed him a smirk so sly he immediately understood the rather unbending infatuation the green headed man clearly had with her.

“You coming tonight?” Zoro questioned him, his sharp eyes puncturing his, as if scanning him for any sign of attraction to the woman standing next to him. That was rather amusing to Law.

If he only knew.

“Yes, he’s coming,” Luffy answered for him, swinging his backpack around and pulling a battered grocery receipt out. He scribbled something quickly on it and shoved it in Law’s hands. “That’s my phone number and their address. The gathering starts at nine. We’ll see you there!”

And with that, the three of them were off, leaving Law rather irked; he was not used to being pushed and pulled around. On the other hand, he found himself folding the receipt neatly and slipping it inside his coat pocket.

______________________

“Damn, quite a day it’s been, huh?” Shachi chuckled, watching Law twirl a pen impatiently. “That’s the most human contact you’ve had with anyone since-”

“Yes, I realize that,” Law snapped, slamming his pen down on the desk and pushing himself off of the chair.

Shachi, at that point completely in tune with Law’s up and down demeanor, didn’t flinch. Instead, a crafty smile bloomed on his face before he said, “We’re going.”

“You know I’m not the big gathering type,” he retaliated.

“I don’t care,” was his friend’s response. 

Was there a sign on his forehead screaming “push-over” that day? Law quickly turned his head back to Shachi, his eyes now laced with annoyance, “I have work to do tomorrow morning.”

“Tough shit,” Shachi replied before standing up and raiding Law’s closet. “And we’re making you look hot tonight.”

_______________________

Law looked and felt ridiculous.

It was his own clothes, sure, but the ones he had had dusting away in the far corner of his closet. His friend had convinced him years ago to buy a pair of distressed black jeans, but he had never worn them. Until tonight, that is. As they walked side by side, Law smoothed out a wrinkle he had discovered on the edge of his black button-up shirt before running his hands through his freshly washed locks. His hair was at the point of constantly being an irritant in his face, and he was in dire need of a trim.

“Alright, this is it,” Shachi announced, stopping in front of a humble apartment. He double checked the receipt. “It’s on the first floor. Ready?”

Law flashed him a peeved glance.

“Great! Let’s do this.”

When they said it was a gathering, Law didn’t have an all out college party scenario in mind. Nonetheless, that is exactly what greeted them at the door. A drunk girl appeared; Law recognized her. Nami. She had been in multiple classes with him throughout the past few years. Her cheeks were a hazy pink, her eyes glazed over, and the hand not placed on the door knob was grasping a generic plastic cup reeking of alcohol.

“Hey! Law, I knooow you! You were my partner that one time in that one class,” she slurred, bringing an arm around to give Law a side hug, which he avoided by stepping aside so that she landed in Shachi’s arms instead. His friend’s face flushed instantly as he tried supporting the weight of the drunken redhead. Once he successfully made sure she was back on her two feet, he and Law made it in. It was your typical Saturday night college party, disco lighting, blaring music, sweating bodies. Shachi quickly found his way to the beer table and grabbed a couple of cans. He opened them both and handed one to Law.

“To losing control for a night!” he announced, forcefully bumping his can to Law’s and proceeding to chug the entire drink down. Once the first drink was in his system, Shachi was off dancing his life away for the rest of the night.

This wasn’t Law’s first time dabbling with college parties. In fact, they were the main way he dealt with his emotions during his first two years of college. There was an unhealthy dose of meaningless sex and waking up with unmanageable hangovers. That didn’t get him anywhere, needless to say, but he wasn’t exactly in a better place now.

He almost lost himself in thought again, but the raven headed woman from earlier approached him. She still had that smile of hers gracing her face. Law never found himself attracted to women, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize a beautiful woman when he saw one.

“You came,” she greeted, sounding surprised. “You didn’t look very thrilled back at the gym. I’m surprised you made it.”

Law chuckled, taking a swig from his beer before replying, “That makes two of us.”

“Hm. What compelled you then?” she questioned, swirling around her cup and waiting patiently for a response.

Perhaps it was the resolute aura she gave off or the beer starting to set in, but for a brief moment, Law considered telling her the truth. He was there for one very specific reason, and he has yet to see said reason. The moment quickly faded, however, and he responded with a simple, “A friend convinced me.”

“Ah,” she hummed, the look in her eyes telling Law she didn’t buy it in the slightest. She pushed no further, however, and simply welcomed him there before disappearing into the bound of dancing students in the center of the apartment once more.

Law made his way to the beer table again, and as he cracked open the second, third, fourth one, he started losing his sense of reality. The colors of the disco lighting were starting to blend together, and the previously uncomfortable heat of the place started to feel nice. He needed to release something building up in him, something that was hard to pinpoint. He unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt and aired out his sweaty chest, then made his way to the dance floor. The music that had initially been tiresome to his ears now sounded perfect. The warm bodies surrounding him felt good. It was a hodgepodge of madness, a tangled heep of heartsick energy that was somehow made beautiful by being gathered in one place. Everyone there wanted to forget something, to feel something different, and for just a moment, it was okay to be a part of that.

His eyes had been closed, but then he felt a soft hand grip his forearm. He glanced down and he knew who it belonged to. He looked back up and greeting him were eyes just as hazy as his, but authentic, like sterling silver.

“Come with me,” he saw Luffy mouth, and he let him lead him out of the crowd. 

They made their way together to a slightly quieter room, empty. Law’s head felt heavy, and he looked down at the short boy in front of him as he closed the door. He was wearing skinny jeans and a baggy white T-shirt that practically drowned him. He was so small.

“It’s crazy out there! Sorry it took me so long to find you, it’s stupid dark,” he apologized, only slightly garbling his words. He was intoxicated, too. He looked back and saw Law gazing down at him, and he laughed.

“You’re so close to me!” he almost squealed, which made it only harder on Law to hold back on touching him. That was incredibly cute.

“Anyway, since we barely know each other, I wanted to take you aside and get to know you,” he explained, settling on the floor and crossing his legs. Law sat on the side of the bed and remained quiet.

“So, what year are you?” he began, “I’m a freshman.”

“Senior,” Law replied.

“What are you studying? I’m not sure what I’m doing, honestly...maybe I’ll become a professional barista, or something,” he laughed, though it sounded a bit nervous, as if it was something he was truly worried about.

“I’m going to med school,” Law said

“Whoa,” he replied, “That’s important.”

“I guess,” Law smiled softly, his shoulders relaxing. “Baristas are pretty important, too.”

Luffy laughed, his hand going up to his neck again. He did that a lot, Law noted.

A silent ensued, one that Law appreciated, as the few words they exchanged had taken a huge effort to maintain given his heavily intoxicated brain. His heart beat slowly; something he never took notice of, but that suddenly seemed prominent at that moment. Everything felt so unhurried, even a blink seemed to take minutes to complete its natural course. Within seconds, his head had slumped back to rest on the bed. Who it belonged to, it didn’t matter, because all he cared about at that point was resting his eyes and listening to the soft breathing of the boy sitting quietly on the floor nearby.

He had no dreams that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) 
> 
> I'm so sorry for the delay. I hope it was worth the wait ♡.
> 
> -S


	4. Chapter 4

Law had so much to do.

The ordinarily put together room, and which in normal circumstances he took pride in, was now covered in an ocean of papers, textbooks and whatever the hell else he had been spending days hammering into his brain. The two weeks of midterm hell were slowly coming to an end, but unfortunately to him, his most stressful class was the one he was ending it with. History.

“I told you to join me for the group study sessions,” Shachi mumbled, his eyebrows raised disapprovingly.

Law shot him a shut the fuck up, I’m not in the mood glare, and his friend quickly shifted his eyes back down to his notes.

He had been pulling an all-nighter, and he now had exactly half an hour before his last exam. It had been three hours since his last cup of coffee, he calculated quietly. His mind quickly drifted towards the thought of Luffy, the boy who tucked him in at a party house two weeks prior. Law’s hand gently goes up to his forehead; it was an embarrassment he didn’t want to have to be reminded of. He needed more caffeine in his system.

“More coffee?” as if on cue, Shachi appeared from the kitchen with a perfectly fresh, steaming coffee pot hovering over his empty mug.

Law looks up at his friend with bloodshot eyes, “Yeah. Thanks.”

________________________

Shakily gripping his cup of coffee in one hand, and his two pound History book in the other, Law traveled soullessly towards his classroom. He used his shoulder to prop open the door before walking in. Shachi had gone ahead of him. His fingers were shaking, his mind felt like a muggy pit, and his eyes were burning like all hell from his several failed attempts to put his contacts in that morning. 

Finally locating where Shachi had settled down for the exam, he started making his way up the stairs. To his utter annoyance, the nightmare redhead stopped him in his tracks just as he was about to reach his seat.

“Trafalgar,” he greeted, his black lips curling into a side smile. Law simply observed the happenings in front of him, his mind scarcely capable of retaining anything other than the two hundred page bullshit he memorized the night prior. Kidd disregarded his blank expression and proceeded to lift Law’s chin up with his index finger and thumb.

“I’ve been missing you,” he murmured, clearly blessed with the wrong assumption that Law was going to let him keep up his crappy attempt of luring him in.

“Get your filthy fucking hand off of my face, Eustass,” Law growled, his eyes piercing daggers through the redhead’s skull. It wasn’t until he detected the several eyes uncomfortably looking their way did Law realize just how loud he had been. 

He didn’t give a fuck, pushed pass his bemused ex, and sat next to Shachi.

“Nice,” Shachi whispers, scooting over.

The two and a half hours provided to finish the exam felt like a decade, with the continuous shuffling of antsy students around him, the maddening ticking of the wall clock, the occasional frustrated sigh, the heavy breathing of his ex sitting in front of him. Not a minute later, Kidd got up, handed in a paper as empty as it had been when it first hit his desk, and disappeared out of the classroom. With his exit, Law’s entire body relaxed, and he was able to finish up the last two questions without a second thought.

The time finally ran out, and Law couldn’t have released a more depleted, relieved sigh out of his lungs. Shachi, on the other hand, still had one more exam left which was exactly five minutes from the end of their class. Needless to say, his friend had completely disappeared the second the time ran out. With the classroom empty, Law found himself basking in the silence, something he didn’t often allow himself to do out of fear of sinking into the watery grave of his mind. Yet there he was, giving his mind a well needed break from the two weeks of pressure hell, and surprisingly, it felt okay.

Once the clock struck ten, Law collected his items and decided to treat himself to a cafe visit; something he hadn’t had the time to indulge in the past two weeks. Swiftly, he nestled his earbuds in his ears and made his way out of the classroom, only to be abruptly swept into a side hallway by none other than Kidd.

“Fuck,” Law winced, his phone falling onto the concrete.

“Hey you, took you long enough,” Kidd jeered, locking Law against a broom closet door and not wasting a moment slamming his hungry lips against his. Law’s insides were on fire as Kidd slipped a hand up his shirt and pulled him deeper into his chest. His tongue felt hot and starved, and for a moment Law relented, let himself taste the searing bitterness of his ex’s mouth, the charged weight of his gruff hands pulling at his belt loops. But it only lasted a fleeting breath before he furiously punched Kidd in the guts and stepped away.

“Jesus Christ, Trafalgar, fuck!” he hacks, a hand going up to his aching stomach. 

Law felt this small, barely detectable flame in him that would flicker each time he took a look at Kidd, would remember any decent instance from their past relationship, the one that would burn just a little higher on those nights that felt so lonely and unbearably dark, completely and utterly go out. He wiped his mouth, picked his phone off of the floor and took one last look at him, “You’re fucking pathetic.”

And walked out.

_______________________

“Medium coffee with cream, to go.”

Luffy looked up from his station after having been grossly distracted by his phone. His previously concentrated brows relaxed, his lips parting in mild surprise. It took him a moment to finally put his phone down and address Law, “Hi!”

“Hey.”

Quickly, Luffy’s eyes dropped from Law’s and looked around for something to settle on before he finally mustered, “I thought you were mad at me.”

Slightly puzzled, Law waited for Luffy to further explain himself, only to realize that the young barista was looking at him with a pair of hopeful eyes, as if aching for reassurance. Law safely assumed it was because of his sparse visits to the cafe during midterms.

“I’m not angry,” Law finally replied, a small smile making its way up his face, “But I will be if I don’t get my medium coffee with cream. To go.”

Luffy jumped, his face flushing, “Jeez, of course. Right away!”

As the barista anxiously got the coffee going, Law leaned his hip against the counter and watched him. His eyes traveled up and down the boy’s petite figure, soaking in the way the black apron accentuated his smallness, the endearment of his hurried movements. He loved how rattled Luffy got when he was around, the pink haze that tinted his nose. A plan to use that to his favor was already brewing. As Luffy was pouring the cream into the mug, some spilled down his fingers, all the way down his wrist. Drawn, Law watched as the barista huffed quietly in discontent with himself before realizing that Law had caught his clumsiness. Slowly, he put the creamer down and proceeded to lick the cream off of his hand, his tongue trailing gently up his wrist to the tip of his fingers, his eyes locked into Law’s murky gaze in a rare moment of confidence. Law’s jaw twitched when he felt a small tug in his pants.

“Here you go,” Luffy said, presenting him with his mug of coffee, his eyes innocently peering into Law’s, as if completely unaware of the move he had just made, “Oh, and it’s on the house.”

The moment was quickly interrupted by the cafe doorbell as three figures shuffled in, their vociferous laughter cutting right through the pleasantness of the silence. Quickly, he recognized the figures; Nami, Zoro and Robin.

“Heya Luffy, we just came by to say hi!” Nami announced, sending Law’s way a flirtatious wink before casually making her way to the back with Luffy. Law couldn’t help but follow her arms as they draped familiarly around the barista, and the way Luffy’s arms wrapped tightly around her in response.

“Law,” Robin greeted, interrupting his observation. Her waist was, as per usual, possessively wrapped by the tanned arm of her beastly boyfriend, “Haven’t seen you around in a while.”

“Midterms,” he reasoned, his mind still wandering towards the intimacy between the two behind the counter.

“Ah, yes,” she said, her eyes as probing and curious as ever, as if waiting to catch him in a moment of weakness, “Well, it’s good to see you.”

“You as well,” he lied. The truth was, he didn’t particularly care. 

At that moment, his phone buzzed to life. It was a text from Shachi. Once slipping his phone away, Law furtively sent Luffy’s way a final glance. The barista’s eyes were etched with an acute intensity as he looked back at him, and with that Law grabbed his coffee, adjusted his bag and left the cafe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I have no excuses.  
> ily.  
> ty for reading.  
> <3 
> 
> -S


	5. Chapter 5

4 years ago

“Trafalgar Law,” his name echoed into his years and forced him to look up from his biology book. He had been reviewing for an exam he was supposed to take only minutes from then, and he was irked at being interrupted. His designated school counselor had popped into his early afternoon class and was requesting to see him in her office. He was caught off guard, since he was one of the most excelling students at that highschool, and he couldn’t possibly think of what she needed from him. As he got up to meet her, she added one more note.

“You might want to grab your things.”

The previously puzzling emotion welling up inside him was suddenly replaced with what felt like an endless drop in his stomach. Something bad had happened. So bad he wouldn’t be able to go back to class. Collectedly, he gathered his book bag and did a careful job averting his line of vision away from any of the bystander students, then stepped out.

His counselor’s heels echoed furiously in the hallway, and as hard as he tried to gather any kind of information from her facial expression, she didn’t budge. She had the face of a perfectly rigid stone; something he had never minded about her until this very moment. It felt like an eternity had passed before they finally arrived at her office, after which she shut the door, settled behind her desk and beckoned for him to sit across from her.

“We just received a call regarding your guardian,” she said, not wasting a precious moment of his time. Her face softens only a fraction, “He was involved in a mugging incident, and was shot. He didn’t make it. I’m so sorry.”  
_____________________________________________________________________________

It was eleven forty six at night, and Law was nursing a sixth beer and tentatively watching the clock above the bar tick, tick, and tick closer to the anniversary of Corazon’s death.

“Buddy,” Shachi tuned in, concern etched into his groggy, slow voice, “That’s your last one tonight.”

“Screw you,” Law grouses, beckoning the bartender to grab him another before turning to his friend, whose cheeks were arguably a more hazy pink than his. It was an unfortunate night for the both of them; with Law dealing with the death of the only person that ever meant half as much as any one he had ever met, and Shachi with his failure of their History exam. Law realized it wasn’t a perfectly grand combination. He didn’t often revert to comedic relief when it came to his grief, but he couldn’t help but poke at his friend that night by the time the sixth beer hit his system, “You gave me crap for not studying, and you got an F.”

He couldn’t tell if Shachi’s strange facial expression was that of hurt or amusement until he finally belted out with a loud, ugly fit of laughter, “Shit, I know! And you’re the dick who got a god damned fucking A!”

Shachi’s laughter lasted a couple more minutes before it gradually died down and he sent Law an irritated glance, “Honestly, piss off. You and your fucking A can kiss my ass.”

That earned a chuckle from Law. At that point in his life, he knew better than to rely on alcohol for emotional stability, but it didn’t hurt to see this side of his friend every once in a while. If nothing, Law was convinced it allowed room for his friend to relax a little, despite his predictable apologies the mornings after they got wasted.

The bartender finally came by with his beer, and as Law took the first swig of it, he started to notice the flashing lights of the bar start to feel brighter, more intense. His eyes gradually tuned in to how drunk he was becoming, and everything started to slow down. Suddenly, his ears were getting wind of every sound in the bar, the music, the chatter, the swinging of the bathroom doors, the coughing of amateurs trying shots for the first time. He began to hate the noise, so he tapped his friend and beckoned that he was leaving.

The night air was cold as he stepped out of the clamorous bar. It was summer still, but fall was knocking on the door, and Law was perfectly ready to welcome it. He had always hated the mugginess that the summer months brought, and not to mention the godforsaken mosquitoes. His eyes closed as another breeze came by, and he felt his body sway with the effect of the alcohol. After a moment of contemplating it, he checked his phone. It was eleven fifty five.

“Fuck,” he whispered to himself, realizing the place his mind was taking him. He dialed a number and didn’t allow himself a moment to change his mind. It rang and rang, and as he was about to drop the phone from his ear, it clicked.

“Hello? Who’s this?” a curious, boyish voice responded. Law’s brain was so fogged up at that point that he almost forgot to respond.

“It’s Law,” he finally said.

There was a strange silence on the other end, although it could have easily been his brain processing things at a slower pace.

“Law,” the voice responded softly, “So this is your number. I’ll save it!”

Law nodded, then realized the stupidity of what he was doing before replying, “Good. Where do you live?"  
___________________________________________________________________

The originally five minute walk to the destination took Law fifteen minutes to complete. He wasn’t proud of it, but it was the best he could do with the state his mind was in. It was a surprise he made it all the way at all. Granted, his legs were on the verge of collapsing as he frustratingly attempted to go up the stairs of the apartment complex, but when he finally approached the third floor, it felt worth the trouble. Needless to say, he was not at his best emotional capacity, but he was far too gone at that point to properly judge his performance, much less his decision making capabilities.

He only had to knock once before Luffy opened the door to greet him. His hair was a perfectly crazed mess, not the kind that was done on purpose, but truly a mess, with every lock of hair sticking out in comical ways. He was wearing a pair of red plaid pajama pants, and an oversized plain black T-shirt. And his face was adorned with his typical cheek to cheek smile.

“Come in!” he said happily, opening the door wider to let Law in.

“Thanks,” Law replied, sobering up enough to walk in a semi straight line into his home. His eyes quickly soaked in the apartment. Simple, a little cluttered, but overall cozy, with a gray couch, a TV set, a small kitchen, and some rugs and a few plants to complete it.

“Do you want anything? A drink? Water?”

“Err, water,” he answered, suppressing the urge to have another drink. He could have easily guessed that Luffy’s older friends got him the drinks, since he clearly hadn’t hit the twenty one mark yet.

Law settled on the couch and closed his eyes in an attempt to force himself into a sobered up state. Something inside of him was telling him that it wasn’t a grand idea to stop by, not tonight, not with this much alcohol in him.

“Here,” Luffy handed him the water, which Law quickly downed in a desperate effort to wash his drunkenness away.

As he set the cup down, he noticed Luffy’s intent eyes boring through him, and thus decided to momentarily veer the attention away from him by remarking something superficial, “Nice plants.”

Luffy blinked unexpectedly then laughed, “Really? Thanks! Nami picked them out for me.”

“Nami,” Law instinctively repeated.

“She’s been my friend for ages,” he continued, smiling softly as if the thought of her warmed his insides. That rubbed Law the wrong way, “She and Zoro are like family to me.”

Family.

For a brief moment, the reason why he was drunk stupid, the reason he seeked out comfort to begin with that night hit him like a brick. Then all of a sudden, he felt sober, as if the seven drinks he had downed earlier evaporated straight out of his system. Luffy noted the silence that followed his statement, and visibly inched closer to Law on the couch, but remained quiet. Law’s mind was slowly grasping the extent of his grief as he sat there, his fingers interlaced between his knees, his thoughts racing faster than he could care to keep up with. It felt like hours were passing as he simply existed in that inescapable, jarring moment. Corazon. His father, his guardian, his rock, his family. Then he felt it; Luffy’s small hand raking through his overgrown hair. The gesture was minor, innocent, and though his body initially tensed up at such a gentle show of presence, Luffy didn’t stop, and simply continued to tenderly run his hand through Law’s hair, over, and over, and over.

He hadn’t noticed how rapidly his heart was beating until he felt it begin to unwind and relax once more. As he felt his body gradually settle down, he lifted his hand and grabbed hold of Luffy’s wrist, then looked over at the boy. His eyes were wide, but not alarmed, just curious and remarkably black.

“Come here,” Law murmured, gently motioning for Luffy to come closer to him, then adding, “If you’d like.”

Without hesitation, Luffy inched close enough so that he was thigh to thigh with Law. With their proximity, Law was able to comfortably return the favor by running his fingers through Luffy’s untamed locks, which were astonishingly soft given how radical they looked. In response, Luffy closed his eyes, as if he was immersing himself in the moment, as if it was exactly what he had been hoping for. This made Law crack a small smile.

“You like your hair played with?” he questioned.

“Big time,” Luffy replied, his constant enthusiasm about everything a marvel to Law. A minute in, however, he opened his eyes and looked right into Law’s hazy ones, this time studying him earnestly, as if trying to get right in there to figure out everything that made him up. Then, with a quick swing of his leg, he successfully cradled Law’s lap.

This not only caught Law off guard, but it instantly made a familiar warmth creep down his abdomen. He looked up observantly at Luffy, who was adamant on getting a good look into Law’s eyes. Law proceeded to take in the weight of Luffy’s body; light, but firm and real, and god, he fit perfectly around him. Luffy shifted on top of him, his legs tightening around his waist, his chest coming closer to his, which subsequently pushed a small groan out of Law. It was taking everything in his power not to take control of the situation. He wanted this to be led by Luffy, the smaller one, the more innocent of the two.

“Law,” he finally whispered, his arms creeping up Law’s chest, touching him, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt, “I really like you.”

An amused huff blew out Law’s nostrils, “I know.”

Luffy’s face crept closer to his, until Law could feel his breath against his lips; nervous and warm. Law was starting to get antsy, and he shifted slightly under Luffy’s weight.

“Touch me,” Luffy breathed. 

With a furtive half smile, Law’s hand obliged by sneaking up Luffy’s shirt to explore the small of his back; soft skin and strong muscles despite his small figure. He continued, traveling up his spine, then down underneath his arms, where he started tracing his fingers along the curves of Luffy’s abdomen muscles, then up his chest. The small hums escaping Luffy’s mouth were starting to get the best of him, but he didn’t stop. He watched the boy’s eyes close and his head sink into the crook of Law’s neck, which compelled Law to grasp him by the hips and pull him even closer, tighter around his waist. Soon after, he felt Luffy’s arms curl around the back of his neck, and he pulled Law into a firm, unrelenting hug. Law felt his body relax, his eyes flutter shut, and his heart begin to slow. 

Perhaps going there wasn’t the worst possible decision, because he hadn’t been embraced like that for years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi lovelies. let me know your thoughts on this: bad, good, trash, crap lol, be brutal.  
> otherwise, hope you enjoyed!  
> -S


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

3 years ago

“I understand you’ve been struggling with the loss of your guardian,” the fourth, maybe fifth therapist he was sent to that year -- Law had lost count -- said, her use of the word ‘guardian’ sending a sharp bolt of irritation up his spine. Corazon had been more than that. He used to be everything. They could never understand. They had no idea.

Law remained silent, his eyes taking an interest in the disgustingly gray carpet beneath his feet.

The therapist sighed, her hands intertwining on the desk in front of her, “I can’t help you if you don’t say anything to me.”

That earned her a look from him, “I don’t want your help.”

“Why is that?”

His eyes glazed over again, and the room got cold. The clock ticked away, and he was gone again.  
__________________________________________________________

Oh my God, it hurt.

His chest was scolding hot, and his throat felt like it was filling up with thick, heavy tar. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, he didn’t want to exist anymore. But he couldn’t leave. He had nowhere to go. There was no one there. Law’s eyes popped open, and a blindingly searing headache began to ring in his ears. It was dark and quiet, he couldn’t see anything around him, and his fingers grasped at something to grab onto. He hadn’t felt this aggressively out of control in two years, but it all felt so unmistakably familiar. He tried to make out the sound of anything recognizable, but he couldn’t hear anything over his loud, rapid heartbeats. He knew he was losing.

“Law?”

As if a switch had been flipped, his eyes refocused. It was still dark, but all of a sudden he could feel the comforting weight of Luffy still nestled on top of his lap, his small fingers clutching tightly at Law’s shirt. He felt so disoriented, until snippets of the night before started to flood his mind; the drinking, the unprecedented call, Luffy’s body. Law’s eyes burned, but he couldn’t check, he didn’t want to check, because his cheeks felt wet, and he could taste the strong tang of salt on his tongue. Slowly, he felt Luffy’s warm breath start to graze his face, until their foreheads connected, and he started to regain his ground. He hadn’t been conscious of this initially, but he gradually noticed their breathing patterns begin to sync up, slow, drawn out and quiet. Every part of his body was throbbing in pain. Leisurely, the dark night sky peaking through the windows began to turn a royal blue in welcoming of the morning, and he could finally make out Luffy’s features again. His eyes were closed, and Law could see how long and dark his eyelashes were against his pale skin, and he got a close look at the white scar beneath his left eye. 

This was foreign to Law; sleeping with someone without it being an explicitly sexual interaction. It felt unfamiliar, but his body had adjusted quickly to it, as if it had always known where it belonged, and now that it was there, it never wanted to know life without it. His eyes fluttered shut again, and his head slumped back. He was exhausted. He could feel the small boy’s heartbeats thumping softly against his chest, and for a moment, it was all his mind could focus on. It was like that for a while, until he felt Luffy shift, his head burying deep into his neck. The faint sound of chirping birds slowly trickled into Law’s ears, until it was interrupted by a much more pleasant sound.

“Hi,” Luffy breathed into Law’s shirt, his voice croaky and in dire need of water. Law didn’t move his hands from Luffy’s back, and instead circled them softly around as a greeting. A small sigh escaped Luffy’s throat, which was slowly but eagerly interrupted by something attempting to nestle its way between them. Amused, and slightly aroused, Law cocked an eyebrow as realization sunk in, and he felt Luffy tense up before jumping off of him, his morning face marked with sleep patterns and adorned with perfectly pink cheeks.

“Bathroom!” he squeaked, clenching his fists against his sides and disappearing into the hallway, his eyes never making contact with Law’s.

Law breathed. Peculiar morning.

_________________________________________________________

After leaving a small note on Luffy’s coffee table, Law disappeared. That day was reserved for Corazon, the whole of it, as it had been for a long time. Strangely enough, though, it felt intangibly different that year.

Once showering at his apartment and changing into a new set of clothes, he made his way into his car and drove off. It would take at least an hour to arrive at his destination. Usually, he enjoyed listening to rather dry podcasts about the newest medical discoveries, or if he was feeling a bit of a change in pace, he would listen to the news. That day, however, he was called to fill the ride with nothing but music. He turned the sound of the radio to the highest volume and reveled in the mild pain that came with ungodly loud music. His ears rang in protest, but he couldn’t find it in him to turn it down. There was something fleetingly cathartic about the experience, and for a moment, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t indulged in it more often before. The cars driving in the opposite lane passed him in a comfortingly steady blur, and the drive there was over before he knew it.

As he stepped out of his car, the crisp air hit him in the face, and a chill traveled up his neck. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped into the slowly browning grass of the graveyard. The crisping leaves beneath his feet crunched in protest, and the scent of autumn’s arrival smelled intoxicating.

Finally, he approached Corazon’s grave. Simple gravestone with “Donquixote Rosinante” carved in perfectly cold lettering. Law took a moment to soak in its state; a bird had done its business right in the corner of it. With a click of his tongue, he slipped out a small piece of cloth and sanitizer out of his pocket for this exact purpose and cleaned it off, after which he settled in front of the grave, his legs crossed and fingers entwined.

“I think I may have stumbled on a college boy version of you, Cora,” he said, his body sinking into the ground beneath him. He felt warm all of a sudden, “He feels like a safe place, and I doubt there’s a single bad bone in his body.”

He breathed in the cold air, “I don’t wanna fuck it up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi cuties :)   
> this is a short one, but the next one is already in the works.  
> lmk your thoughts! ♡
> 
> -S


End file.
